25 Faceplants from 25 Sports

The idea of good sportsmanship—that you respect the other player and the outcome—has an almost immutable presence in sports. As soon as we're old enough to play tether-ball, our parents and teachers emphasize the importance of this concept, regardless of the sport or game.

"Sore losers" make any competition a wretched experience, as do winners who use the opportunity to make you feel worse. Without a sense of good sportsmanship, any pick-up game of basketball or a rec flag football tournament would likely descend into a chaotic brawl.

This is why hockey players form a handshake line just removed from on-ice brutality few would forgive outside of the game and why we can be a part of a team capable of achieving much more than any single individual.

However, there's dark space carved into the very heart of sports—a third rail for which respect, honor and grace do not apply.

The faceplant.

No one will ever punish a person who leaves it all out on the field, even if it's a losing cause, because such an effort maintains the spirit of the game.

When circumstances—and misfortune—lead to a series of events that end in someone's mug eating court, dirt, ice...or somethingeven more unsavory, it can be equal parts hilarious, infuriating and frightening.

Do you feel sorry for the victim? Do you laugh? The faceplant embarrasses and hurts the plantee and puts the spectator in the most awkward of positions. Luckily for you and me, these are videos...so we're free from any unwanted burden.

Basketball

This video was taken at a high school basketball game in late 2012. Initially it doesn't look like much of a fall—he just comes down from traffic in front of the net a bit awkwardly and hits the court.

Unfortunately, the kid was a little stunned by the faceplant, and the game had to be stopped briefly while he was checked out by coaches.

Motorcycling

I'm honestly surprised I've never seen this video on Tosh.0. It has everything Daniel Tosh and company usually look for in a video: a girl, a motorcycle and an epic wipeout on a shockingly tiny little ramp.

My dirt bike experience is relatively limited, but I'm fairly certain that even I could land that jump.

At least she had a soft sandy landing for her faceplant. There are much worse surfaces to land on your face.

Skateboarding

There are a ton of skateboard faceplant videos on YouTube, but most of them are kind of upsetting. Skateboarding may very well have the highest percentage of per person faceplants of any sport in the world.

And most of them are horrifying. This video isn't nearly as bad as most, although the kid definitely bites it pretty hard on the sidewalk.

I have to assume he was fine though, since his friend uploaded this video with the description: "dave ate sh*t."

Cycling

The title of the video on YouTube is "BIGGEST FACEPLANT EVER !!! Must See!" That's pretty accurate.

A cyclist comes flying over the horizon on what looks to be a pretty slick surface. As he approaches the cameraman, for some reason he veers off the road into the grass and slams into an unsuspecting road sign.

The rider isn't wearing a helmet, but somehow gets up from the collision. It's just so insane. It's almost as if he was intentionally aiming for the sign.

There's no reason for coming off the road to begin with, and he had plenty of time to bail or at least try to steer away from it.